Protective Action of Butanolic Extract of Pueraria tuberosa DC. Against Carbon Tetrachloride Induced Hepatotoxicity in Adult Rats

Administration of CCl₄ at a dose of 0.1 mL/kg/day for 7 days to normal rats provoked significant alterations in the various biochemical variables. It also caused severe histopathological lesions. Priming with the butanol extract of P. tuberosa or conjoint administration of extract along with CCl₄, provided significant protection against CCl₄ induced injury.     

Broad spectrum herbal therapy against superficial fungal infections

Skin disease associated with keratinized tissues in animal and human beings has been investigated. The essential oil of Eucalyptus pauciflora in vitro showed strong antifungal activity at 1.0 microl/ml against human pathogenic fungi, viz. Epidermophyton floccosum, Microsporum audouinii, M. canis, M. gypseum, M. nanum, Trichophyton mentagrophytes, T. rubrum, T. tonsurans and T. violaceum. The oil has heavy doses of inoculum potential at 1.0 microl/ml. Moreover, it did not exhibit any adverse effects on mammalian skin up to 5% concentrations. Further, we formulated the oil in the form of ointment 'BSHT' (broad spectrum herbal therapy) (1% v/v) and subjected it to topical testing on patients attending the outpatient department of M.L.N. Medical College, Allahabad. Fifty patients were selected on the basis of KOH-positive results and diagnosed as either tinea pedis, tinea corporis or tinea cruris. After the second week of treatment, all patients were KOH-negative. At the end of medication, 60% of patients recovered completely and 40% showed significant improvement from the disease. No KOH-negative cases of relapse were observed when patients were re-examined after 2 months following the end of treatment. Thus, the ointment can be exploited commercially after undergoing successful multicenter clinical trials, which are in progress.     

Laparoscopic transabdominal cervico-isthmic cerclage: a minimally invasive approach

BACKGROUND: While the traditional approach to management of cervical insufficiency has been the insertion of a transvaginal cerclage during pregnancy, a transabdominal cervico-isthmic suture is indicated in certain patients. This procedure is traditionally performed via laparotomy. Laparoscopic transabdominal cervico-isthmic cerclage (LTCC) placement, however, confers the benefit of the low morbidity associated with laparoscopy. AIMS: To describe the technique and outcomes of LTCC in three cases. METHODS: LTCC was performed using Mersilene tape at the level of the internal cervical os in the prepregnancy period in three patients: one with previous cervical amputation and two with previous failed cervical cerclage. Procedures were performed at a tertiary level endoscopic unit, Sydney, Australia. RESULTS: The laparoscopic approach enabled placement of a suture with no morbidity, and rapid patient recovery in these cases. CONCLUSIONS: Laparoscopic cervical cerclage proved technically feasible and safe for a surgeon trained in laparoscopic suturing methods.     

Internal limiting membrane peeling for large macular hole: Tailoring the rhexis to the shape of the hole

Purpose:To report a simple modification of internal limiting membrane (ILM) peeling tailored to the shape of the macular hole to improve the closure rates.Methods:This is a single-center interventional case series. conducted between 2016 and 2020. The minimum follow-up was 4 months. All surgeries were performed by one surgeon. Twenty consecutive patients (21 eyes) with large idiopathic macular holes (horizontal diameter: ≥600 μm) were enrolled; vertical hole diameters were also measured using spectral-domain optical coherence tomography (OCT). Following vitrectomy, ILM peeling was performed over a horizontally oval area (additional 1 disc-diameter temporally); perfluoropropane gas (C3F8, 15%) tamponade was used. Hole closure and change in best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) were monitored after absorption of the gas. Preoperative and postoperative visual acuities were compared using paired t-test. IBM SPSS (ver. 26) was used for analysis.Results:The macular holes were horizontally oval rather than circular without exception: mean horizontal and vertical diameters were 714 μm (range: 600–1020 μm) and 602 μm (490–844 μm), respectively. Following vitrectomy, macular hole closure was obtained in 20/21 eyes by the last follow-up (mean: 28 months, median: 34 months; range 4–48 months). Mean Snellen BCVA improved from 20/200 to 20/63 (P < 0.0001).Conclusion:All the macular holes in the study were observed to be horizontally oval. A corresponding horizontal enlargement of the ILM rhexis yielded excellent anatomical and satisfactory visual outcomes.     

Markedly disturbed sleep in medically refractory compared to controlled epilepsy - a clinical and polysomnography study

PurposeTo evaluate sleep disturbances or sleep related events and their characteristics among patients with medically refractory epilepsy, compared to those with controlled epilepsy.MethodsIn a prospective case-controlled study, patients of medically refractory and controlled epilepsy were recruited and history pertaining to epilepsy and sleep related events and Epworth sleepiness scores were recorded and all patients underwent over night polysomnography.ResultsAmong 40 patients, 20 with medically refractory (Group 1) and 20 with controlled epilepsy (Group 2) (median age 18, range 10–35 years), the self reported sleep parameters in Group 1 patients were found to be significantly different as compared to Group 2, in terms of the duration of night time sleep, day time sleep, day time nap frequency, total sleep hours per day, excessive daytime sleepiness (EDS)(45% vs. 15%) and average sleep hours over the week prior to polysomnography. On PSG, Group 1 patients showed significantly less total sleep time [340.4 min (147–673) vs. 450.3 min (330–570)] with delayed sleep latency and REM latency, poor sleep efficiency [80.45 (40.5–98.0) vs. 95.45 (88.4–99.7)] and frequent arousals and wake after sleep onset (WASO) compared to Group 2 patients. Four patients (20%) in Group 1 compared to none in Group 2 were found to have mild obstructive sleep apnea.ConclusionsOur results indicate that medically refractory epilepsy patients believe that they spend more time sleeping, in contrast to the documented shorter sleep duration on polysomnography. This difference between perceived and actual sleep seems, by their data, to arise mainly from sleep fragmentation, disturbed architecture and the interesting finding of associated sleep apnea among the medically refractory epilepsy patients.     

Isolation of a fastidious Bergeyella species associated with cellulitis after a cat bite and a phylogenetic comparison with Bergeyella zoohelcum strains

Bergeyella zoohelcum is an uncommon zoonotic pathogen typically associated with cat or dog bites. Previously, only five cases of B. zoohelcum infection have been reported. We report the isolation and characterization of a fastidious Bergeyella species from acute cellulitis in the upper extremity of a 60-year-old woman. The organism was too fastidious for identification and susceptibility testing with traditional culture methods. The isolate was characterized further by PCR amplification and sequencing of the 16S rRNA gene with broad-range eubacterial primers. Phylogenetic analysis of the 16S ribosomal DNA sequence indicated that this isolate was a member of the species B. zoohelcum (previously Weeksella zoohelcum), a gram-negative bacillus that is rarely associated with infections in humans. Despite sharing a close genetic relationship with other B. zoohelcum strains, this isolate was extremely fastidious in nature, raising the possibility that similar strains from cat or dog bite wound infections have been underreported.